Will and his parents have been celebrated and honored at not only the GLAAD Media Awards, but also by GLSEN, GetEQUAL, and most recently, as the Grand Marshal for Northwest Arkansas Pride. However, they have also had tremendous amounts of hate directed at them, including people claiming that his parents are “harming him” by raising him to be speak his mind and stand up for what is right.

I have been extremely lucky to become friends with Laura and Jay Phillips, and even had the opportunity to interview Jay and Will for the Podcast Beyond Belief earlier in June. During this interview, I spoke with Jay and Will about their love of Star Trek, and geekiness in general. I told them about DragonCon, one of the largest pop culture conventions in the world, held in Atlanta every Labor Day weekend.

I mentioned DragonCon to Laura again, and she explained that it would indeed be something that Will would go crazy for, and that his birthday was even in September, but that with all of their travel they would have to look at it for another year. Despite what people may think about “fame” and TV appearances, the Phillips are just like most of us, regular people struggling to get by.

And then I had an idea.

Surely, other people would join with me in thanking Will for taking a stand, and providing inspiration to people of ALL ages.

Surely, we could raise enough to get his family to Atlanta for DragonCon, and show them how much we appreciate the gift they have given us, the gift of a future with Will Phillips in it!

So, if you want to help get Will and his family to DragonCon in Atlanta THIS Labor Day for his birthday, PLEASE help me by donating below!

I have already booked their lodging, and will guarantee that I will do whatever it takes to get enough money to make this happen, even if it means filling in gaps myself.

For donors who will be at DragonCon, I am sure we can convince Will to come to a birthday party on-site :) I know for a fact that he and his family like cake and pie!

For more information on Will’s story, I have provided links below.

Will’s first TV appearance, with his father Jay Phillips, on CNN in 2009.

Will’s Award Acceptance Speech at the GLAAD Media Awards in March 2010, which ends with the Vulcan Salute, “Live Long and Prosper”

Will’s GetEqual Pledge

Thank you for helping to give back to this little boy, who has given us so much hope for the next generation.

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This post, Happy Birthday LGBT Activist Will Phillips!, originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on June 30, 2010.

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This post, My Son Pwns Me on Skepticality – Will Now Be Shipped to Swoopy, originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on December 23, 2009.

Skeptical Parenting: Raising Young Critical Thinkers

There comes a moment in every parent’s life when your child asks you
the question you most feared hearing from your dear one’s lips.

“Mom?”

“Yes, honey?”

“Where did people come from?”

“You mean babies? Well, um, first the man takes his penis and . . .”

“No, no, I mean the very first people. Where did the first people on Earth come from?”

I was dumbfounded. What could I say? I knew this moment was coming
and yet was completely unprepared. I would be more than happy to
discuss sex with him, but evolution? How could I explain evolution to
my three-year-old when I myself was fuzzy on the process? I was, after
all, the product of the South Carolina public education system.

And that is when I said the worst possible thing any parent can say
to a child asking about this controversial subject. No, I did not tell
him that we came from God or that we were planted here millennia ago as
an extraterrestrial experiment. I told him something much, much worse.

Go to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry to finish the article!

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This post, Skeptical Parenting: Raising Young Critical Thinkers, originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on December 15, 2009.

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This post, My son looks like he has Vulcan hair., originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on December 5, 2009.

Anyway, I was called a spammer because I posted on more than one site at once about the same thing. I am apparently the world’s laziest spammer. Today two sites, tomorrow THREE! Before you know it, the all of Al Gore’s creation will be MINE!!!A concern troll is someone who derails an argument with concern for the other side. Actually, I was trying to put the pro-vaccination movement BACK on track to what it needs to be about, science and vaccines. So here is my last comment, because I seem to be a masochist and had to get back in it. Which is kind of weird, because submissive yes, masochistic no and those . . . Never mind, we are not talking about sex, we are talking about vaccines!

Orac, you are right. It did look like I said you specifically called her
a slut. I apologize. My wording did indeed paint ALL skeptics with the
same brush stroke. It was not what I meant to say, but what my wording
said.

Chris, I did read the blog entry, and all the comments. And you and I
agree that we need to focus on attacking the issues and not the people.
We also agree that skeptics are not immune from criticism.

The reason I posted on this site, as well as Skepchick (you said there
were more, I have honestly forgotten if there were) was that the issue
of sexism and disgusting personal attacks was raised. That is the issue
I commented on. They are not ok from either side.

When people who are neither skeptics nor anti-vaxx search for
information on whether or not to vaccinate their children, they want
facts and advice written in a way that neither offends them nor makes
them feel stupid. I am a pro-vaccination mother of two who in the
trenches EVERY DAY with mothers making decisions about whether or not
to vaccinate. I post about it on my FB page, talk about it with female
co-workers, and educate about it with breastfeeding and mother’s
advocacy groups.

I am confused as to why I would be labeled a spammer or concern troll,
when my concern is and always has been, on how to increase the number
of children vaccinated. That’s it, bottom line.

And when ANYONE, anti-vaxxer or skeptic, uses sexist and misogynistic
attacks on a woman for her opinions, other women will get turned off.
And in THIS country, who is still responsible for the majority of
decisions made about children and their health care? Women.

My mistake is clearly that I have chosen the wrong forum to discuss
this on, and not followed the rules you have set up on your forum. That
is tacky and rude on my part.

But please, do not discount my sincerity at wanting to increase the
number of women who hear the pro-vaccination message and choose to
protect their children and mine.

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This post, Concern Troll Dolls Are THE Hot Christmas Toy!, originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on December 2, 2009.

Sweden became the first country to ban corporal punishment of children thirty years ago. Now, more than 24 countries have similar bans on corporal punishment in the home, and more than than 100 countries ban schoolteachers and administrators from hitting their students. Eva Svedling, a sociologist with the organization Save the Children Sweden, tells host Michel Martin how the ban has affected the lives of children and parents in the country. Then, Martin turns to the program's regular panel of moms — Jolene Ivey, Dannette Tucker and Aracely Panameno — for more on their decision to spank, or not spank, their children, and if an anti-hitting ban like Sweden's could ever be passed in the U.S.

via www.npr.org

Very interesting NPR story on corporal punishment. The spankers seem to have a hard time understanding that the representative from Sweden is not saying that you should not discipline your children. She is stating that you have to draw a line between violence and non-violence with children. She then makes the point that the child is an individual also deserving of human rights, and we would not allow this behavior towards other individuals.

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This post, A Spanking Ban In The U.S.? : NPR, originally appeared on The Fat One in the Middle on October 13, 2009.