HAHABT Winner

I want to begin with giving my deepest thanks to everyone who stopped by for the Hop Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, and for the many kind words. The most wonderful thing about participating in this hop is seeing all the readers, authors, publishers, reviewers, and cover artists coming together in a unified stance for equality and acceptance. I'm always happy and proud to be part of it :-)

And now, for the hardest part of holding a giveaway; picking a winner. Really, I don't pick a winner myself. I use a randomizer and let technology do the dirty work, since I can't pick a winner on my own. So without further ado, the winner of my giveaway:

Congratulations to Jen (jen(dot)f(at)mac(dot)com)

I'll be getting in touch soon!

And again, my thanks to everyone for stopping by. It's awesome to see people coming together for such an important cause and standing up for equality!

Hop Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia

It's a pleasure for me to take part in another Hop Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. This hop and giveaway has been organized to celebrate International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. This is a day of awareness where we join our voices together in support of equality for the LGBT community. 

As part of this event, I'm offering a prize, one of my books, winner's choice of title, in ebook. All you have to do to be entered in my giveaway is leave a comment on this post. Please also include an email address where I can contact you, should you win. Or if you're not comfortable posting an email address, then please stop by when I post the winner and if you're selected, you can email me at S.J.Frost3@gmail.com for your prize. I'll announce the winner on May 25th. Several authors, publishers, cover artists, and reviewers are also taking part in the hop. I've included their info below, so please check out their posts and giveaways. And I hope if you have a moment, you'll read my post, as well :-)

Good luck to all who enter in the giveaways and thank you all for being part of this special event!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness...

Many who just read those words will recognize where they're from, one of the single most important documents ever written in the United States of America, our Declaration of Independence. It was written when the forefathers of this nation stood on the precipice of making history. Once again, our nation stands on that edge, ready to either bravely leap forward toward equality, or take steps back and hide in a bigoted past.

The fight for equality continues in the U.S. There have been acts by those in power within the government who have sought to harm the LGBT community. From the passing of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" in Indiana by Gov. Mike Pence, which in its original form allowed for open discrimination against LGBT individuals, to the Attorney General of MY home state of Ohio, Mike Dewine, claiming LGBT citizens already have too much power and don't need protection, to Senator Ted Cruz's attempts to ban same-sex marriage, there has been a shameful abuse of power in this country and a massive amount of ignorance displayed by those in office.

The politicians in office who argue against equality have lost sight that they are servants of the people. That it's their duty to protect ALL citizens of this country. No one should be made to feel they're a second-class citizen not deserving of equal rights, not deserving of being able to marry the one the love, not deserving to adopt a child because of their sexual orientation, not deserving of protection. And yet, many people live with this day after day in the United States and throughout the world.

The Declaration of Independence states that the government is granted power by the people. So too can the people take it away. We can abolish it, alter it, and stand up against those who refuse to do their duties to serve all people. And we're doing exactly that. There have been many victories in the fight for equality, one of the strongest being against Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In a great demonstration of solidarity, people and businesses spoke out against the bill and showed they wouldn't tolerate discrimination. The result was the law got amended.

The victories show that the people of the United States and the world can make a difference. More nations and states than ever are recognizing marriage between people of the same gender and are adding protections for the LGBT community. Progress is being made and the movement for equality continues to grow stronger. Straight, gay, bi, trans, we'll stand together as allies, because we're all of this human race and we understand that all people are equal and all individuals are deserving of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.