on sharing holidays in this glorious Empire

Good evening fellow Curtainites,

Can I even post this here? If not please delete this with my apologies.

What could be more glorious than a Steampunk Christmas or Chanukah with loved ones at hand?

The holiday season is upon us. Not everyone in the gay-bi-trans community is welcomed into the homes of their own families to share what should be a joyous time of celebration.

Coming out is traumatic and many of our brothers and sisters are set adrift to fend for themselves.

Thus this time of year can be particularly difficult for those who have stepped out from behind their own curtain.

In our household, since my partner and I are quite active in a social group of senior gay men, we always endeavor to invite other older gay men who might otherwise spend a holiday alone to join us for a family meal.

This Thanksgiving we are hosting 3 men for dinner.. turkey with all the trimmings.

Indeed these men are friends of mine who are always welcome in my home, but with the busyness of the season we all can easily brush aside the thoughts that people we know personally and see frequently may not anything special planned.

My request is that each of you, please, mentally run through the list of your friends and seek out those who have been abandoned by their families. This is not the same thing as the noble idea of feeding the homeless or volunteering in the local soup kitchen. This is something easy that every one of us can do to make someone's holiday better. One extra guest at your table is not difficult at all.

It is not hard to include them in your festivities and something as simple as a family style meal can make a huge difference in their life.

Make this a holiday gift to yourself,

Baldur