Continuing his media tour, Ft. Worth City Councilman Joel Burns (and husband J.D. Angle) popped up on Lawrence O’Donnell’s increasingly relevant The Last Word last night, following his Ellen and The Early Show appearances. All these gay kids keeping texting him!, says Joel. And reaching out to him on Facebook, clogging his inbox with twenty thousand messages. My god, that’s some worldwide reach right there. It also strikes me as problematic: Joel says he’s got a “small army” of friends handling those messages in some sort of triage exercise, ensuring any kids with immediate crisis are answered right away. But still: 20k messages? This website has trouble getting through the 1k emails we get a day.
the trevor side project
Gay Teens Are Cyberstalking Joel Burns By The Thousands (Just Like He Wanted)
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PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
“This website has trouble getting through the 1k emails we get a day” obviousley cause heavens forbid you ever answer an email from a poster.…….
ewe
The both of them are TERRIFIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE EM.
They make my heart sing.
Fitz
I am thinking about all the Obamapologists who keep saying that the president can’t spend political capital on unpopular gays… blah blah blah. Guys, those 20,000 gay kids ARE political capital, and momentum. A SMARTER party would be ALL ABOUT reaching out to these kids both to support them, and to empower them to continue the advocacy. There isn’t a major corporation out there that would LOVE the opportunity to build brand loyalty with 20,000 teenagers. It COULD be a win-win. The kids develop their own sense of efficasy and strength, and the party could grow. but no. It’s left to a singular amazing man to form an ad-hoc social service hotline. sheesh.
uu
Queerty gets a thousand (emphasis on the “thousand” please) emails a day? Whatever for, don’t people have better things to do than email nondescript persons at an unknown blog in a teeny-tiny corner of the blogosphere?
Yes, feeling a bit of a hypocrite posting here.
Toby
I’ll say this, Joel Burns makes me want to vote…vote a lot…
jeff
A really weird headline to frame this very positive story. The New York Times it ain’t